Package



May 26, 1942 5. J. SILBERMAN PACKAGE Filed June 1, 1959 lNVENTOR 5441051JflzamMn/v ATTOR EY Patented May 26,1942

PACKAGE Samuel J. Silberman, Hartford, Conn, assignor to ConsolidatedCigar Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of DelawareApplication June 1, 1939, Serial No. 276,783

4 Claims.

The invention relates in general to tobacco products and in particularto a method for preserving tobacco and to correlated improvementsdesigned to enhance the characteristics, features and utility of thepreserved products;

It has been the practice heretofore in the preservation of tobaccoproducts, in particular cigars, to package the cigars in individualmoistureproof pouches or wrappers and thereafter to assemble a largenumber, such as fifty, of the individually wrapped cigars, in a singlecontainer in which the cigars remain during display andsale to thepublic. It is customary, however, in the sale of such packaged cigarsthat the cigars are soldv in small numbers, from one to'three at a-time,so that the cigars remaining in the container are exposed to atmosphericconditions fora-varying period of time. It is obvious that the last ofthe cigars in the boxcannot be expectedto retain all of the desirablecharacteristics to the extent that they would if the main container hadnot been opened.

Accordingly it is a general object of the present invention to preservea'plurality of tobacco units in a uniform manner so that they may beretailed over a period of time without adversely affecting the originalcharacteristics of the unit which remain in the main container.

It is a further object of the invention to preserve a plurality ofcigars in a main container in such a manner that the individual cigarscan be used gradually without subjecting the unused cigars to varyingatmospheric conditions and while preserving substantially the originalchar acteristics of the cigars. It is a further specific object of theto provide an improved method of packaging cigars to facilitate theirpreservation over long periods of time in a substantially uniformmanner.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

According to the present invention, a plurality of individualunits oftobacco, such as cigars, are preserved in a substantially uniform mannerfor long periods of time by enclosing the individual units of tobacco inpreserving wrappers and thereafter enclosing some of the individuallywrapped units collectively in another preserving wrapper to form a grouppackage and thereafter enclosing the group package and the remainder orother individually wrapped units in a common container. The presentinvention thus provides a preserved tobacco product comprising a multifplicity of individual units of tobacco, such as invention I unit oftobacco enclosed in a cigars, all of the units being individuallyenclosed in a preserving wrapper, some'of the individually wrapped unitsbeing collectively enclosed as a groupin another preserving wrapper andall of the units being packed in a common container.

. It is a general principle of the present inven-' tion that in thepreserving of a multiplicity of tobacco units in accordance with'thepresent invention some of the units are enclosed in Tn number ofWrappers, and other units are enclosed in n plus 1 number of wrappers.In the dispensing, as by retailsale, of the tobacco units preserved inaccordance with the present invention, the individually Wrapp d unitsare first dispensed and thereafter the group wrapper is broken and theremaining individually wrapped units are then dispensed, the groupwrapper serving to preserve the unused portion of the tobacco units fromadverse changes due toiiuctuating atmospheric conditions. p

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and relation ofone or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and thearticle possessing the features, properties, and the relation ofelements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure,and the scope of the invention will be indicated inthe claims.

1 For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of thepresent invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawingin which:

Fig. 1 represents one embodiment of a single Fig. 2 represents oneembodiment of a'group of individually wrapped tobacco units of the typeshownin Fig. 1;'

Fig.3,representsone embodiment of the pre j served tobacco product ofthe invention; and

Fig. 4 represents another finished preserving article of the invention.

By way of illustrating, but not by way of limiting the. invention. themethod of preserving will be illustrated in connection with thepreserving of cigars, but it is to be understood that the inventionisnot limited to preserving cigars, but isapplicable for preservingcigarettes, chewing tobacco and other tobacco chandised in small units.V

The individual units are each enclosed either in a pre-formed pouch orbag or in a Wrapper in a conventionalmanner. The bags or wrappersemployed for preserving the individual units may be formed of anysuitable flexible sheet material such for example as metal foil, wood,paper preserving wrapper;

embodiment of the products which are meror non-fibrous organic plasticmaterial such for example as regenerated cellulose, cellulose esters,

cellulose ethers, gelatin-casein, chlorinated rubher and syntheticresins of all kinds. It is to be understood that if the sheet materialisnot in- V herently moistureproof, it may be rendered moistureproof in asuitable manner known to the art as by impregnating or coating thewrapper or bag with a moistureproof composition such for example as acomposition such as that disclosed in; U. S. Patent No. 1,737,187. Forcollectively wrapping the individually wrapped units of to bacco to forma group package as shown-in Fig. 2, there may be used any suitablepreserving wrape per'or bag. The group wrapper or bagmay be formed ofany of the materials described above as j suitable for the individualwrapper or bag.

The container employed for holding the llldi- V vidually wrapped unitsand the group package may be a carton, box, can or oth er suitablecontainer;

Referring to'Fig-Ll of the'drawing, a single unit of tobac'co'such as acigar serving wrapper 2, suchior example as a wrapper of moistureproofCellophane, in a known a manner. Assuming that the main retail containeris to hold fifty two individual cigars, a substantial proportion ofthis' number, such for examplefas twenty-four cigarswhich have been in-.

dividually wrapped, as shown in. Fig. l, are now collectively wrapped toform a group as shown in Fig. 2 by means of a sheet of moistureproofCellophane. To facilitate the, group wrapping of the twenty-four cigarsthere" is conveniently employed a packaging form 4 as illustrated inFig. 2.

This form may be produced by folding a strip of stiif cardboard into arectangle and sealing the overlapping edges 5 and 6 with a suitableadhesive. This packaging form may be provided with a bottom and/or withatop'of the same material, but for economy need only comprise sidewalls. Intofithis form is placed. four layers each comprising six cigarswhich have been individual ly wrapped. The package thus produced isthenwrapped in a collective wrapper 3, forexample, a sheet of moistureproofof the wrapper folded to form overlapping flaps 1 and 8 which aresealedagainst the .end of the.

form 4. The outermost edge of the wrapper'may be positioned to extenddownward on one side of the package as shown in Fig. 2 and the edge isout along the lines A and B at each'end of the package to form a freeflap 9, the flap being seale'd in the area III to the underlying sheetof Cellophane.

sitioned in a retailcontainer II consistingof a wooden .box as shown inFig. 3. It will be noted that'the group package is ofsuch width that it7 does not occupy theentirearea of the box II.

Thereforethe group package coacts with the side walls I2 and I3 and thetainer I I to form a space into which is packed the individually wrappedcigars. In the box shown in Fig. 3 this space is sufiiciently large toaccommodate twenty-eight cigars.

It is to be understood a single preserving group package as shown in theI isenclosed in a pre-' Cellophane, and the ends end wall I4 of thecontainer I I being occupied by the individually wrapped cigars I6.

The invention also contemplates that in addition to providing a portionof. the tobacco units with a greater number of wrappers than anotherportion thereof, the preserving characteristics of the collective orgroup wrappers may be varied by (a) forming these wrappers ofthickermaterial, or (b) forming these wrappers of more moistureproof material.j

In that embodiment in which the retail container comprises more than onegroup package.

the group wrappers may vary in preserving characteristics with respectto each other. For example the wrapper on the group I5 may be thicker ormore moistureproof than the group wrapper on the group I5. Alternativelythe group I5 may be enclosed in a greater number V of group wrappersthan thegroup l5. By utilizing one or more of these embodiments, it ispossible to vary the preservation time of the'units so that theindividuallywrapped cigars will be preserved in a salable condition forX period 'of time, while the cigars in the group I5" will be preservedfor 2X periods of time, and the cigars in the group I5 will be preservedfor 3X periods of time. When the individually wrapped cigars I6 havebeen exhausted from the container, the flap 9 on the'group package asillustrated in Fig. 2 will be exposed in the space formerly occupied bythe cigars'IB and upon pulling upwardly on this flap, the wrapper on thegroup package may be that insteadof having ar'ticleillustrated'in Fig.3, a plurality of group, 7

packages may be formed and packed together.

'th a plurality of individually wrapped cigars'to form an article asshown in Fig. 4. In this figure the container I I holds'two grouppackages I5 and I5, the space defined by'the wall of the'group packageI5 and the walls and end of the con- 1 V 56 The group package shown inFig. 2 is then poreadily torn ofi. The individually wrapped cigars inthe group package then may be dispensed in the usual manner.

-'By' the present inventionfithere has'been provideda novel method ofpreserving individual units of tobacco so as to retain'certain desiredcharacteristics in some of the units for one peprisinga containerenclosing a'plurality of loose cigars individually enclosed inseparatepreserving wrappers or moistureproof Cellophane and enclosing atleast two groups of such' individually wrapped cigars and each of saidgroups being enclos'ed'in another and separate preserving; wrappen: eachof said groups and each of said first-mentioned cigars beingindependently re,- movable from said container.

2. A retail'package of preserved tobacco comprising a containerenclosing a plurality of loose cigars individually enclosed in separatepreserving wrappers of moistureproof Cellophane and enclosing at leasttwo groups of such individually wrapped cigars and each of said groupsbeing enclosed in another and separate preserving wrapper, the groupwrappers differing from each other in their relative thickness, each ofsaid groups and each of said first-mentioned cigars being independentlyremovable from said con- Jtainer, 3.'A retail'package ofpresetved'tobacco comcigars individually enclosed in separate preservingwrappers of moistureproof Cellophane and enclosing at least two groupsof such individually wrapped cigars and each of said groups beingenclosed in another and separate preserving Wrapper, the group wrappersvarying in their degree of relative moistureproofness, each of saidgroups and each of said first-mentioned cigars being independentlyremovable from said 10 container.

SAMUEL J. SILBERMAN.

